Dancing Mary

In the shadows of British Columbia's Comox Valley, a tragic history refuses to rest. Based on chilling true events, Dancing Mary unearths the long-buried story of a young K'ómoks First Nation woman—named Mary by early settlers—who was betrayed and murdered by the very man she once trusted. Her spirit, said to appear as a shimmering blue orb, haunted the area for decades. The last vivid encounter occurred in 1914, when a soldier cycling down Comox Road rode through the ghostly light and described an otherworldly cold that he would never forget. From that moment on, the legend of "Dancing Mary" was born—named for the spectral sway of her ghostly presence. But Mary's tale is more than just a ghost story. Interwoven with the haunting is the emotional journey of a grieving father and daughter who return to the Comox Valley to lay to rest the ashes of their beloved wife and mother, lost to suicide in Vancouver. As they confront their own pain, they are pulled into the valley's dark folklore, discovering a connection between past and present that is as healing as it is harrowing. Blending historical tragedy, supernatural mystery, and human resilience, Dancing Mary is a gripping narrative of danger, loss, and the power of a spirit who refuses to be forgotten. Both a ghost story and a story of healing, it asks: what happens when the dead speak—and who among the living is ready to listen? Editorial Review JL Cartwright Dancing Mary is a fascinating, haunting story that brings a father and his young daughter coming to grips with the suicide of their wife and mother to the Vancouver Island town of Comox, British Columbia. There the daughter encounters some youths who offer to help her contact her mother in the spirit world. Terrified about the direction his daughter seems to be heading the worried father goes for long walks along the beach where he encounters a mysterious woman who warns him that his daughter has opened a dangerous portal and something evil and dangerous is threatening them both. This book is one of those that once you start reading you won't be able to put down. Highly recommended.